AT&T's new mobile service plans eliminate data overages

AT&T on Wednesday announced a new set of wireless service plans that effectively do away with surprise data overage charges.

Up to this point, running out of data in a given month would automatically trigger an additional 1GB of data added to your account at $15 a pop. For those not paying close attention to their monthly data consumption (maybe you forgot to hop on Wi-Fi when binge watching a new show on Netflix), this could easily add up to a significant amount of money in overages.

With AT&T’s new Mobile Share Advantage plans, you’re data connection will instead be cut down to 128kbps once you’ve exceeded your monthly allotment. You’ll still have the option to add more high-speed data to your account – it will just no longer be an automatic surprise.

AT&T makes it clear that this feature comes free of charge, a clear shot at Verizon which charges customers on lower tiers $5 a month for the service.

Overages aside, the new plans are structured a bit differently than before. An entry-level Mobile Share Value plan, for example, currently affords 2GB of high-speed data for $30 per month. That’ll be cut down to just 1GB under the new plans for the same price. On some of the higher tier plans, however, the opposite is true meaning you’ll get more data for the same price (and in some cases, for less money).

The new Mobile Share Advantage plans go into effect starting August 21.